Kate Bush News

Swedish fans may like to note that the Gothenburg Symphony and guest artists Jennie Abrahamson (toured the World with Peter Gabriel) and Malin Dahlström (Niki & The Dove) will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Kate’s career. It is described as “a towering tribute with hit songs and pure poetry in special arrangements by Martin Schaub.”

The two concerts take place on Friday March 23rd and Saturday March 24th at Gothenburg Concert Hall. Tickets and info can be found here.

Jennie Abrahamson

February 1st sees the publication of a brand new magazine special all about Kate from the makers of Classic Pop Magazine. It will be available to order online and will also be on sale in newsagents in the UK and Ireland – and yes Seán from this site has been interviewed for this special and also wrote a short piece for it.

If you order online there is also an option to buy a fan pack with 4 art cards included.

Here is the link to pre-order the individual issue for £7.99: http://bit.ly/2n2HacY
Here is the link to pre-order the issue PLUS art cards for £15: http://bit.ly/2DxKvfl

Classic Pop tells us: “The 4 art cards are printed on thick glossy card and feature some stunning photos from a performance in the Netherlands, a photo shot in Italy, her performance on the Saturday Night Live Show in 1978 and of course a gorgeous close up”

From the Press Release:

In this special edition 132-page magazine, we celebrate 40 years of Kate Bush, who’s unique brand of songwriting and performing has bewitched the globe since her debut single, ‘Wuthering Heights’ made UK No. 1 in 1978.

Inside, we explore Bush’s career, from her wide-eyed beginnings touted as a child genius, through to the critical and commercial success of her incredible canon of work, and on to 2014’s triumphant return to the stage for her 22-night residency in London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

We get the inside track via interviews with KT Bush Band member Brian Bath and session musician David Paton, official photographer Guido Harari, KateBushnews.com founder Seán Twomey, plus there’s a 1978 archive interview with Kate herself.

Elsewhere, we take a detailed look at Bush’s musical collaborations, we pass judgement on the finest of her output in our Top 40, and we offer in-depth classic album profiles from across her career including ‘The Kick Inside’, ‘Never For Ever’, ‘Hounds Of Love’, ‘The Red Shoes’ and ‘Aerial’.

Lastly, Seán Twomey offers up a fascinating look at the storytelling within Kate’s songs, there’s features on ‘The Tour Of Life’ and the ‘Before the Dawn’ shows, and we handpick our selection of vinyl treasures to be found within Kate’s stunning catalogue.

We hope you enjoy the issue!

From Retracing the Scenes: Wuthering Heights and The Kick Inside : 1977 to 1978 Homeground Anthology Volume I – available on Amazon here

“… As far as we know, Kate Bush’s most famous song was written sometime in March 1977, late at night, with a full moon shining in at the window. It was the final exorcism of a presence that had haunted her since she had caught the scene with Cathy at the window in the 1967 black and white BBC adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel. Though not originally conceived as her début single, to Kate, as the recording session wound on in August 1977, it became both musically and vocally the obvious track to break through the hard shell of public indifference. EMI were not at first convinced. To them, James and the Cold Gun looked much more like the obvious lead − pause now and consider what might have happened if they had had their way. Would it have been so big? Would that have been better in the long-run for Kate’s career development? Would Kate have been perceived by the general public and the rock establishment and press in a totally different light?

EMI finally relented and allowed Kate her own choice, and a release date was set for November 4th 1977. The “demo” copies were pressed up and many were sent out. One of these landed on the desk used by Eddie Puma, then the producer of ‘The Late Show’ for the London commercial radio station Capital Radio. He was entranced on his first hearing and left the disc for the presenter of the show Tony Myatt. They were both convinced that it was a superb single of rare quality and began playing it right away. The other DJs on the station were not so certain.

Meanwhile back at EMI’s Manchester Square headquarters a dispute had broken out over the artwork of the sleeve. The company had conceived an integrated publicity campaign centred around a Gered Mankowitz photo of Kate in a pink dance leotard − which apart from being the centrepiece of the posters would also form the covers of both single and album. Kate wasn’t so sure she wanted a campaign built more around her body than her music, and began to argue for an album cover design featuring a concept of the song Kite which her boyfriend Del Palmer had originally put together. Though it was late in the day, EMI again relented and allowed Kate to have her way.

The release date of the single was put back, and put back again. Afraid that premature exposure of the song would ruin the publicity build-up, EMI wrote to the radio stations that had received their demo copies to ask them to hold airplay for the time being. Most agreed, but Tony Myatt and Eddie Puma did not, and on Capital Radio Wuthering Heights was played throughout November and December. In the north of England, Manchester’s Piccadilly Radio also kept it on the playlist, and BBC Radio 1 was finally obliged by public request to break its silence.

By the time the new artwork was ready, Christmas was upon the popular music world, and it was decided that it would not be a good idea to throw Kate into the Yuletide maelstrom. A new release date was therefore set for 20th January 1978.

Read More

We’ll link here to pages on the internet celebrating the release by EMI of Kate’s debut single Wuthering Heights on 20th January 1978:

Daily Telegraph

Gaffa.dk | The Post | Far Out | Super DeLuxe Edition | Forty Year Itch |

StevePafford

BBC Channel 4 Facebook

The Guardian

Today’s Daily Telegraph features an article on the lasting legacy of Kate’s debut single, Wuthering Heights, which was released 40 years ago tomorrow, January 20th 1978. James Hall writes:

“At around midnight on a clear London night in the spring of 1977, an 18-year-old Kate Bush sat at an upright piano in her flat in Wickham Road, Brockley, and wrote Wuthering Heights. Inspired by the novel by Emily Brontë, with whom Bush realised she shared a birthday, the song took just a few hours to craft. “There was a full moon, the curtains were open and it came quite easily,” Bush told her fan club in 1979.

But despite the song’s easy creation, no one, Bush included, could have predicted the impact that Wuthering Heights, her debut single, would have on popular culture. Released 40 years ago tomorrow, during an era when disco and punk reigned, it knocked Abba’s Take a Chance on Me off the number one slot and turned Bush into a global star.”

Full article here. We’ll have more on this special anniversary tomorrow!

Happy New Year, folks! Sneaking this message out early on New Years Eve. Thanks for all the support in 2017. 40 years ago, in 1977, what Kate Bush did was remarkable. What she did the following year was…extraordinary. We’ll be here in 2018 to tell you all about it. #kate40

KT Bush Band performing 40 years ago in 1977

*** VOTE FOR KATE HERE: https://www.rockhall.com/fan-vote/2018-fan-vote ***

From Variety: “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the 19 nominees for its 2018 class this morning, nine of which are receiving first-time nods. Artists become eligible for nomination 25 years after the release of their first recording and are selected for the shortlist by a nominating committee. Usually only about 5 inductees are announced each December. The Hall of Fame site says:

“Kate Bush gave popular music a new palette of techniques, crafting unorthodox performances that are part sonic experiment, part theatre. Bush draws us into the world of her imagination through complex arrangements, striking visual presentations and inventive use of technology.”

The complete LONG list (with first-timers noted with an asterisk) is:

Bon Jovi
Kate Bush*
The Cars
Depeche Mode
Dire Straits*
Eurythmics*
J. Geils Band
Judas Priest*
LL Cool J
The MC5
The Meters
Moody Blues*
Radiohead*
Rage Against the Machine*
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
Nina Simone*
Sister Rosetta Tharpe*
Link Wray
The Zombies

You can read the page dedicated to Kate here.

According to a press release, the Hall will again offer fans the opportunity to officially participate in the induction selection process. Beginning Oct. 5 and continuing through 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 5, 2017, fans can visit rockhall.com/vote to cast votes for the artists they believe to be most deserving of induction. The top five artists, as selected by the public, will comprise a “fans’ ballot” that will be tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2018 inductees. Fans will need to login with a Facebook account or email to vote. Voting is capped at one ballot per day.

Ballots will be sent to an international voting body of more than 900 artists, historians and members of the music industry. Factors such as an artist’s musical influence on other artists, length and depth of career and the body of work, innovation and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration.

The Hall’s 2017 inductees were Joan Baez, ELO, Journey, Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur and Yes, with an Award for Musical Excellence for Nile Rodgers (whose band, Chic, has been passed over for induction multiple times).

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2018 Inductees will be announced in December 2017, and the ceremony will be held at Public Auditorium in Cleveland on April 14, 2018. HBO will once again broadcast the ceremony. Broadcast details and ticket information will be announced at a later date.”

*** VOTE FOR KATE HERE: https://www.rockhall.com/fan-vote/2018-fan-vote ***

First a quick bit of background: “The KT Bush Band was formed in 1977 by Brian Bath, Vic King, Del Palmer and Kate. After practicing in Greenwich and Wickham Farm, they made their live debut in April 1977 at the Rose Of Lee in Lewisham. The set list consisted of standards like ‘Come Together’, ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’, ‘Tracks Of My Tears’, but also early versions of Kate Bush songs like James And The Cold Gun, Saxophone Song and Them Heavy People. During the summer of 1977 the band played various venues in and around London, a grand total of 20 gigs.” (taken from the Kate Bush Encyclopedia site)

Photos of Kate performing with the KT Bush Band in 1977 are as rare as hen’s teeth. I think I’ve seen one other of Kate on stage and one publicity photo of Kate posing with the boys in the band (see below). So, it was great to see this recently unearthed photo which accompanied a Late 1977 EMI press pack and demo album which featured their roster of upcoming artists. Kate is listed in the accompanying glossy black and white brochure, and the photo accompanies it. The band logo on Vic King’s drum kit can clearly be seen. (with thanks to Olaf Reh for sharing his scans of the EMI booklet!)

Here are the other known 1977 photos of Kate with the band:

The KT Bush Band has recently had a new life due to founding members Brian Bath and Vic King forming a new band to perform Kate’s early work. Read more about them at their site here. Also worth sharing here, a few years back I was thrilled to find quite a piece of KB history on Ebay; an article introducing Kate Bush in “Music Talk” issue 85 (February 11th 1977) the EMI Records in-house staff magazine – Kate’s first ever magazine cover appearance!

A full year before the release of The Kick Inside, this magazine also seems to pre-date the bulk of live appearances from the KT Bush band in 1977. “Kate has always been a very long term project” – 40 years later – yup, we agree!